Thirteen (13)

[UltraViolet]

~13~

 

In our paean to all the mysteries surrounding this enigmatic number, there are thirteen lucky and unlucky components, including white chocolate, tangerine, currant, mandarin, white tea and iris.

 

In the bottle

definitely a cake and orange smell

 

On

Oh God. Those of you who know how much I like chocolate orange won't be suprised at my review. It smells like "Terry's" Chocolate orange, but more bakery smell.

It's passed the "10 second morphing into someting horribly floral" rule.

 

30 minutes

I don't smell any large amount of floral. I think there's some under the aforementioned smells but it's nothing that is noticeable to me.

I think this is what people who though Spooky a bit "too" something would like.

 

Throw:

average

 

Scent category:

citrus/foody

 

Summary

Foody. Chocolate cake with orange sauce.

Lush lovers will find this of similar category to "Whipstick", "Sonic Death Monkey", "Heavenly Bodies".

 

Purchase again?

Yes. I'm glad I got 2 bottles.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

3.5 I wouldn't wear it all the time, but I like this.

[Lit Chick]

Ordered soley because it's "13", and YAY! It works!

I seem to be one of the few people who does not get chocolate, in the Bliss-y sense. I smell white choco, but to me that smells nothing like real choco - and to my astonishment I really like it.

It's creamy and citrus at first, but in a very light, very wearable way. As it dries, it gets deeper, a little sultry. I agree with the comparison to Dorian, just without the sex and cookies.

 

Fabulous, utlra-wearable oil - perfect for all sorts of moods and weather.

 

ETA: Interesting. When it hits chlorinated pool water, it turns into Dr. Pepper for a moment before giving up and dying. Hehe!

Edited July 16, 2005 by Lit Chick

[ShadowAngel]

In the bottle, this was all chocolate. I didn't think that you could capture white chocolate in a perfume, but this was very specifically white chocolate.

 

As this dried, it became a little more orangey, but the chocolate was in the forefront. This smells fabulous, but I don't think I want to smell quite this much like food (and I like foody scents!)

 

Eventually, this morphed into a beautiful symphony of all of the notes in it, and it was gorgeous. I would LOVE to smell like this does on my after four hours of wear. Unfortunately, I don't want to wait four hours to smell that way. I would like to swap this, but I have a feeling this will be a "I'll just give it one more try," scent, and that once more turns into the rest of the bottle.

[tempete]

Something possessed me to buy two bottles of 13 - even though most of the LEs that I've tried haven't been all that great on me (and I've tried a fair number of them), even though I don't like white chocolate (which is only the first note mentioned in the description) and even though 13 is returning in January 2006.

 

I'm so happy that I bought two bottles.

 

13 is one of those fabulous morphing non-linear scents. It opens with a blast of chocolate goodness that reminds me of the cocoa vanilla in Velvet, and unfortunately dies away all too quickly and leaves a faint trace of sweetness behind. For the next several hours of the drydown, the iris, currant and citrus notes take turns partnering with the white tea note. There's a point where 13 does resemble Bewitched, as others have noted, but it doesn't last for long on me. (It never smells like Dorian to me, but that's just me.) Eventually, some kind of amber or other resin emerges and blends with the iris and currant to create a scent similar to Florence but without the nasty powderiness, which is fabulous because I dislike powdery drydowns. Finally, both the iris and currant fade away altogether and it seems that another resin joins the party, because 13 becomes darker, richer and deeper.

 

There isn't a single stage in the drydown of 13 that I don't like (though being a fan of white tea scents, I do wish that the white tea stages lasted longer). I am amazed that the journey that 13 takes me through. To give you an indication of how much I like 13, I will probably pick up another bottle of it when it reappears in January 2006!

[oakmoss]

First sniff out of the bottle (having forgotten what's in this blend) it was heavy-duty chocolate, with a bit of orange somewhere in there. Nice, but do I really want to smell like a chocolate orange? On the skin, of course, it begins to do its magic, and the chocolate morphs into an underlayer of richness that isn't identifiable as anything edible, which is perfect for me, though I can see how it might disappoint those who do indeed want to smell like a chocolate orange. The individual notes don't pop out for me -- it's a little bit floral, a little bit spicy, more dark than bright, more warm than cool, more serious than frivolous, and just all-around yummy. So glad I got this... I'm adding it to my ever-growing stash of great scents for autumn.

 

P.S. There's no such thing as "white" chocolate.

[Nepthys]

At first sniff, this reminded me of a cross between Vice and Fresh's Chocolate-Orange shea butter - but better. The tangerine definitely works with the chocolate, better than other fruits I think, and for a while this smells as buoyant as a holiday, the tartness of the citrus offsetting the sweetness of the chocolate.

 

Then something odd happens. What I could swear is a dry cactus note comes out. This begins to smell distinctly like Santa Muerte. what could cause that? I can't tell. I just know that the lovely chocolate-tangerine recedes under the dryness and that sage/cactus note holds sway for a good half hour.

 

At last the chocolate-citrus returns, along with a muted floral, and this changes yet again into a very complex scent that is such an odd blend of sweetness, tartness and dryness that I could never begin to break it down. It's very pretty but I do prefer the wet scent to the dry.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Yummy, creamy chocolate with a hint of something citrus and something floral.

 

Wearing: At first this is a yummy creamy chocolate orange. After 30 minutes or so, this turns a little funky in an indescribable way. There is almost something chemical-ish about the smell. That stage lasts about 30 minutes, then we are back to chocolately goodness without the chemical or the orange.

 

Final Impressions: Very bizarre - I'll have to wear it a few more times to see if the good stages outweigh that odd stage.

[13bodies]

in the bottle: strong white chocolate smell (yes, there's no such thing as white chocolate but this smells like the white stuff they call "white chocolate" and not like the brown stuff that is chocolate. Anyway) with a faint floral smell hovering in the background.

 

wet: white chocolate and oranges. Mmmm....oranges.

 

drydown: white chocolate, oranges and flowers. The flowers are faint, just hovering in the background.

 

dry: white chocolate.

 

While this seemed to fade rather quickly, I'd still get an occasional blast of white chocolate even after 7 hours. It isn't what I expected from a scent called "13"--I suppose I expected something more evil -- but this is a creamy, light, yummy scent that I really like.

[PurringPulsar]

13

 

In the imp: holy shit. YUM YUM YUM!!!! This smells just like good quality white chocolate with hazelnut pieces in it. It smells edible!

Wet on skin: still yummy white nutty chocolate, but now the tangerine/mandarin comes through! it smells like Terry's White Chocolate Orange with added nuts! There's also a hint of tea there.

Dry on skin: now the tea note is very prominent, seemingly taking over, but it's not bad here. It doesn't clash too much with the white chocolate and tangerine, which is still there, but sharpens up the scent and stops it smelling too cloying, and smells almost lemony.

After a while: the tea-tangerine note is on top, with the creamy white chocolate underneath, and now, I can smell…honey? There's something in here that reminds me of honey. The overall scent is an interesting mix of sweet and tangy. This smells a lot more settled now, the tea note isn't taking over like before.

After about half an hour, the sweetness returns! It now smells a bit like Dana O'Shee and Snow White! It's white chocolate but now with creamy sweet honey, and maybe some vanilla? It's so cosy and lickable...

Verdict: this is one of the most delicious scents I've ever tried. In the bottle it smelt yummy. Wet on the skin, it smells yummy. Dry on the skin, the tea note comes up and adds another, less sweet, dimension to the scent, but it doesn't ruin the truly delicious white chocolate with nuts and tangerine. But personally, I would have preferred it if the tea wasn't too prominent, because I love this scent in the bottle, makes me go all Homer Simpson like (mmm, white chocolate brownies…*drool*) however, the tea adds a fresh tartness that prevents this scent from smelling cloying or sickly sweet. But this tea stage doesn't last too long, and eventually the scent becomes a more white chocolatey version of Snow White or Dana O'Shee! I'm very glad I bought a bottle, because this is truly yummy. Even if I don't fancy wearing it on my skin, I'll just sniff the bottle every time I have a chocolate craving.

 

And another thing-Beth, please make more white chocolate scents!!!

Edited July 18, 2005 by yeahbutnobut

[Ajila]

Wet this is very creamy chocolate and tangerine , it's really lush and decadent. After about 20 minutes it goes through a musky stage, before reverting to chocolate and fruit, this time figs. About 2 hours in and its faded almost completely, apart from an occassional waft of the chocolate. It doesn't last very long, but I'll enjoy slathering it on anyway.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Creamy and sweet white chocolate wafting up from the bottle.

 

Second Impression: Wet on the skin the notes in this scent sit side by side rather than blend together. White chocolate next to tangerine next to white tea next to currant next to iris. Little ducks in a row. Once the drydown begins, the melding begins. This is a creamy, foody, fruity, floral-tea beauty.

 

Final Analysis: I don't think 13 like any other scent. Truly unique and excellently scrumptious, it has excellent staying power and really good throw. A keeper and a repeat purchase when it comes 'round next year.

[Imbrium]

Initially, 13 smells like creamy chocolate, and while I can't distinguish between the smell of white chocolate versus any other variety, this does make me want to drink the contents of the bottle, so that's a good sign.

 

On, 13 begins as strong chocolate, and quickly a light background citrusy note emerges, though far be it for me to decide it it's mandarin or tangerine - it just smells good.

 

As it dries, the white chocolate fades quite a bit, and a sweet amber scent emerges, which is a bit similar to O on my skin - amber and white chocolate, or possibly honey.

 

I wore 13 to a party last Saturday, and at this amber/sweet stage, a male friend proclaimed that I smelled like waffles (I'm inclined to disagree somewhat) while a very drunk girl said I smelled "good," and then passed out.

 

Putting superstition aside, I wore 13 last Friday to my French 201 final exam, and received 100%, making me suspect that Beth has created a lucky 13 scent.

 

Overall: I'm a teensy bit sad that I never got tea on my skin, but it does smell delicious, as my boyfriend, my waffle-loving friend, and one drunk girl can attest.

Edited July 19, 2005 by Imbrium

[Little Bird]

When I finally got my bottle of 13 today I tore open the lab package in the middle of our driveway and did a happy dance. I've been so excited to try this one <3. I love white chocolate, tangerine, and mandarin... and they're all so rarely used in any fragrances that I've found.

 

So far I haven't really fallen in love with any of the LEs that I have (at least not in a sense that I long to wear them and feel like I would cry if I ran out of them). But 13 is everything that I expected it to be and I am definitely IN LOVE. It's gorgeous and wonderfully unique.

 

In the bottle this smells like melted chocolate. A mixture of white and milk chocolate though. On me it shows up as white chocolate and chocolate orange (mmm... two of my favorites). The citrus isn't really sharp or bad as it usually is on me, it is definitely a candied better-than-orange type of citrus.

 

For a while this hits a stage that I am sort of eh about. It gets more floral in it. But this stage is short lived before it goes back to smelling like white chocolate, only now with a hint of tea. It's so unbelievably good.

 

Everything about this is creamy and sweet. It makes me think of the colour white. Oddly, like how I want my wedding to be like. White, sunny, sweet, and elegant. This scent makes me feel happy. I'll definitely be purchasing another bottle when it comes around again.

[pensive]

In the bottle: White chocolate.

On me: Chocolate orange.

Drydown over time: fades to pure yummy chocolate.

Impression: A delicious scent with good associations and a nice bit of meaning

Verdict: Can I preorder for January?

[Lorencita]

SO YUMMY! That's all there is to it, scrumptious, lovely scent. It starts out as chocolate, then gets the citrus tang from the tangerine. It gets a little powdery in the start of the dry down, but nice powdery, not babyish at all. Some flowers come into play after some time. But mostly this is a deliscious scent. I am so glad I snagged 3 bottles, definatley worth every penny and more. If this was a catalogue scent, it would be my total favorite! For now, it's my favorite till it runs out! Or until January Thank you Beth for making this gem of a scent, I think you are a genius!

[Leda]

The drydown of 13 is quite indulgent. It is the embodiment of sitting on a comfy couch with the pint of Haagen Dazs White Chocolate Raspberry ice cream. The cool white chocolate creaminess, ribbons of raspberry (the currant? most likely). ..

 

No kidding, on me it smells exactly the way that tastes.

 

The wet phase is not quite so pleasant on my skin. Definately a nacho cheese smell upon my first impression, but that does not last long, thank god.

 

Overall, once dry, 13 is another masterpiece from the lab. Not to mention a great concept as well.

 

Update: Thirteen is amazing. Now that I am used to the white chocolate note, I don't get any of the nacho that I did at first. The more I wear this, the more addicted I become. There's something in the dry stage that I can't get enough of: its dry, its tart, its floral, bot not overly so. This is definately in my top three, and I'll get more the next time it appears.

Edited July 28, 2005 by Leda

[mobilejessie]

Another morphing blend on me. In the bottle and until it dries a bit, it's all chocolate. Very bliss-like, but not quite as dark... more of a hot cocoa scent than a fresh chocolate cake scent. As it dries, it develops a touch of citrus and a floral that I can't quite place, and eventually it all blends together to form a delicious foody/floral/fruity scent that I can't believe I like.

 

The only down-side is the way my skin eats this scent. After an hour it's almost gone! I'll be using up this bottle in a hurry, because it's too good not to keep slathering every hour on the hour.

[inkstone]

In the bottle: Strangely enough, I only smell white tea and tangerine.

 

Wet: Oh ho! There's the white chocolate. Very lovely and creamy.

 

Drydown: It balances out to a white chocolate/tangerine tea mix.

 

Final thoughts: I'm not sure what to think about this blend. It's not quite anything else I've tried. I'll give it a few more goes.

[Em-]

It may be too early for me to review this, since I've only been earing it for about 4 hours, but I can't resist...

 

In the bottle, this is definitely chocolately, but I can also smell fruits and florals and something else...it is foody, but almost like a really lucky Velentine's Day when you get candy *and* flowers.

 

Wet on my skin, I get a mix of white and milk chocolate, some nuttyness and something almost oriental...the mandrian and the iris, perhaps?

 

Interestingly, during drydown, I smelt mostly chocolaty wafts, but when I made my husband sniff, his reaction was "more floral than you usually wear, isn't it?"

 

I am really not sure what to make of this blend. While I like sweet foody scents, I tend not to like really heavily chocolatey ones (my favorite part of Spooky is after the chocolate leaves the party). I definitely want to keep some of this...but my jury is still deliberating...

[Brianne]

In bottle:

Wierd note of chocolate with something odd and sharp behind it - I think it's the orange but it's hard to tell.

 

On me:

This is such a unique scent and I'm afraid I have a hard time coming up with much to say about it other than I love it! On me, it's smooth, but LIGHT chocolate and an airy tea with just a touch of orange. It's not too sweet, but it is creamy smooth, and somehow fresh at the same time!

 

Final note:

I am so glad this will be coming around again sometime, because I do so love this scent and I feel like I will easily use up this bottle. So UNIQUE!

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - it smells like a chocolate orange! Yum!

 

Dry - tea! I love tea notes! But then, this goes from a chocolate orange with tea, to a sort of indistinguishable waxy smell. Hmmm, I'm not too sure about this anymore. Yep, wax fruit. *sigh* I think I will give this another try in a week or so, but as of now, I am just not loving this.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 2.

[Loligo]

I will so totally be ordering a whole bottle next time this comes around. It's the perfect balance between rich, candy-sweet white chocolate and sharp, tart fruits. There were a few minutes there where I was worried that it was going to go cloyingly sweet, but the citrus zest pulled it back. I've had it on for an hour now, and some tea notes may just be starting to emerge.

[olympia301]

 

Wow, this is one of the zaniest scents I have ever smelled, let alone possessed! I love it for its imaginative power, its breaking new ground, for its being so courageously blended.

 

Wet and wet on my skin there is the unmistakable scent of cocoa and orange. They do interfere with each other, as if there is a war for my attention taking place. This is very interesting as it intensified to a pitch battle during the drydown. "Orange!" "No Cocoa!" "Orange, dammit!" "Vive la Cocoa!" "Orange to hell and back!" "COCOOOOOOOA!" And so on...

 

At last, out of nowhere a floral antiphon starts up, quietly at first but building. This is the part where orange and cocoa's differences are resolved and the harmonious iris and white tea soothe the troops. This last part manages to achieve what made House of Night so fabulous: there is a small note which floats above the rest and is unearthly beautiful; it is elusive and uncatchable with your conscious but it will take you off guard and thrill your nose with happy torment.

 

13 is really a highly recommended scent. I would have to describe it as one of the "driest" perfume I have loved. I may not be so fond of the middle drydown but the opening and the lingering final stage makes 13 something which is really worth the confusion. It may take some getting used to, but this is worth the effort.

[xoe]

I really love this blend. Complex and soft. And on my skin, the white chocolate scent lasts for hours.

[Carolyn]

The day I received my 13 our phones went dead and I couldn't get on the internet. Someone had cut the phone lines in our town, and half of the town was without phones or e-mail for two days.

 

Coincidence? I think not.

 

Since I am all about luck--both good and bad--I would have tried this scent even if it didn't have such lovely notes.

 

Starts out with a tangy orange chocolate, then moves into....

 

baby lotion. Johnson's Baby Lotion. Wait, it's Johnson's Baby lotion with a touch of chocolate, tangerine, and Johnson's baby powder.

 

I happen to love that combo. Go figure. It's like O has been dipped in chocolate and tangerine powder.

 

I am one happy unlucky girl these days.